Time to speak out
Edward Hoare suggests that Quaker faith is misrepresented by non-theism
When dipping into Howard Brinton’s The Religious Philosophy of Quakerism I came across the following piece and found myself smiling at the thought: ‘Here we go again!’ Dated 1837, the extract is from a letter written by an Orthodox Friend in Philadelphia to John Wilbur: ‘I received thy letter and am glad that there are still some yet left who are not carried away by the stream of popularity and fashionable opinions which now seems threatening to overwhelm our poor, tried, religious Society. Oh the want of weight and depth which is both strikingly evident in our Meetings, both for worship and discipline. When met to transact the affairs of the church… the pure influence of the Spirit is seldom sought after or expected, it being considered only mysticism or, at best, imaginary sensations not safe to follow.’
At that time the ‘Wilburites’ who held that the essence of the Quaker faith is in waiting for guidance from the Inward Light, found their faith challenged by the ‘Gurneyites’ who believed in the primacy of the Bible. Today, instead of the Gurneyites the Society finds itself under siege from ‘non-theists’. To say that Quakers have no fixed creed is not to assert that they have no primary beliefs. When Friends, however, are asked to state them, many cannot say more than ‘We believe that there is that of God in every person’, which leaves open the question ‘What do you mean by God?’ Here words of Rowan Williams, given in response to a question from Melvyn Bragg, may help: ‘God is first and foremost that depth around all things and beyond all things into which, when I pray, I try to sink. But God is also the activity that comes to me out of that depth, that tells me I am loved, that opens up a future for me, that offers transformations I cannot imagine. Very much a mystery but also very much a presence. Very much a person.’ (Quoted by Rupert Shortt in Rowans Rule, page 14.)
As Quakers we try to sink into that depth and to pay attention to what we are being told. We seek to establish a personal relationship with the presence and, when trust has been established, we find that in good times or bad that presence remains with and supports us. Furthermore, when we centre down together seeking a way forward, we can come into unity over the course of action to be followed. The Quaker Testimonies are the fruit of such guidance given to earlier Friends and passed on to us down the ages. They express the interaction between Faith and Action.
Quakerism will always be the faith of the minority because the decision to become a Friend has never been an easy option; it requires a leap of the imagination, a leap of faith. We therefore need to treat attenders as if they had, or could grow to find, their own awareness of the Inward Light and provide them with the environment and encouragement they may need. It is encouraging that several new initiatives aimed at developing the spiritual life are now being introduced. The place in the Society for those who deny all possibility of transcendental experience must be questioned because the Meeting will never become gathered unless all present are participating.
It is sad that, at a time when we are told that a spirituality revolution is developing and that there are people looking for the support that Quakers could give, our faith is being misrepresented by those who describe themselves as ‘non-theist Friends’. We are approaching a tipping point, the pressure on Friends who uphold Quaker teaching is increasing; if they become a minority group in a non-religious organisation the distinctive Quaker voice will irrevocably be lost.
